Thank you, Mr. Chair, for the opportunity to present the GNWT's perspective on the Alberta oil sands and tailings ponds today.
I am here today in Yellowknife, which is in Chief Drygeese's territory of the Yellowknife Dene First Nation and home to the Tlicho and Métis people.
Water is life for the residents of the Northwest Territories.
Indigenous concerns about upstream development led us to collaboratively develop the “Northern Voices, Northern Waters: NWT Water Stewardship Strategy”, which formed the interests that were used to negotiate a bilateral water management agreement with Alberta that was signed in 2015.
An indigenous steering committee, which includes representatives from all regional indigenous governments in the Northwest Territories, provided oversight on development of the strategy and continues to oversee its implementation. The indigenous steering committee was intimately involved in the negotiations of the agreement with Alberta, and an indigenous member from the Northwest Territories negotiating team liaised with the indigenous steering committee.
The Northwest Territories indigenous member on the bilateral management committee, which oversees implementation of our transboundary agreement with Alberta, is nominated by and is a member of the indigenous steering committee that guides the implementation of our water strategy. Regional representation on the indigenous steering committee is the same as the regional representation on the NWT Council of Leaders. Each regional indigenous government in the Northwest Territories nominates its member on the indigenous steering committee.
Our agreement was designed to support co-operative management of transboundary waters by provincial, territorial and indigenous governments and indigenous organizations. It's linked to the federal government through the transboundary waters master agreement for the Mackenzie River basin and the Mackenzie River Basin Board. The federal government plays an important role in transboundary water management.
Our agreement is much more comprehensive than traditional water quality and quantity agreements such as the Prairie provinces agreements. In addition to water quality and quantity, our agreement includes groundwater; broader ecosystem measures, such as biological indicators; and valuation of ecosystem benefits. It also incorporates traditional knowledge. It ensures that an indigenous member from each jurisdiction has a seat at the bilateral management committee decision-making table. The agreements have been established to respect and uphold the terms of NWT indigenous comprehensive land claims, self-government agreements and treaties.